Chrissy came to us on Sunday, October 16th, 2005; just a few months after we moved into our house in Newton. We had discussed that we wanted a little dog, for the first time in our married life, we had a home of our home and could have a dog. We knew living on the main street that she would need to be a house pet. So when a friend of ours told us about a stray poodle hanging around their house, we jumped at it. When we pulled up to the house, there was this adorable little peach poodle that came to meet us, it was love at first sight. We were told there was a possibility that she might be pregnant, and that was okay too, we'd figure it out. So, on our way home, we tried on names, we ran through a ton but when we got to Chrissy, her ears perked up and we all could have sworn she smiled. She officially became Chrissy Raye Browning. On Monday, I called the vet and on Wednesday, we went for a checkup and to see if she was chipped, which she was not. I told them I thought she was pregnant and so they did an ultrasound. Sure enough, three little pups were showing up on the screen. She gave birth to all three, very much alive, on November 29th of that year. Mandy went to live with my mom, Liz stayed here and became Robert's puppy and Charley went to live with a lady I worked with. Chrissy was the best mommy. Up until the last few weeks, she had given Liz a bath everyday and she would still clean Liz' eyes.
Chrissy loved fireworks and we would always take both girls to watch them, Liz couldn't care less but Chris would watch totally enthralled. She also loved to swim when we had the pool and in the last few years her favorite pastime was getting to sit on the front porch in the swing.
Last summer, I realized she had one eye that was getting cloudy and took her to the vet to see if there was anything that could be done. She was going blind and the vet thought we would start seeing her decline....and we did.
As badly as I hated to think about it, we had discussed getting a puppy because Liz had never been by herself. Then Gibbs came into our lives and he and Liz are so close that we soon knew that was the answer. Gibbs wanted Chris to love him but she would object loudly when anyone was watching. When nobody was watching though, they would cuddle up together and take a nap. I have a feeling Chris told Gibbs to take care of Liz because he has taken over the daily washing of Liz's eyes.
Chrissy was just a doll, she loved getting her hair done and would walk out of the salon like she was queen of the world. We lost our groomer last fall though so instead of traumatizing her with someone new I bought a grooming kit and watched lots of videos, we did our last grooming the first week of the new year and I think we both did okay.
So, to my little Chrissy girl I say thank you. Thank you for rescuing us when we thought we were rescuing you. Thank you for being such a great mommy and thank you for being such a great friend. I miss you already more than you can imagine but I know by the look in your eyes on the way to the vet that night that you were begging us to make it stop. You were breathing so hard your little head was shaking and I knew I could be selfish and make you suffer to the last breath or I could do what was best for you and let you go. I hope we always did what was best for you.
We buried her under the catalpa tree in the back yard and I ordered a stone just for her. Gibbs and Liz are both a little lost as even though Chris spent a lot of the last few months resting, she was still the boss. We will all help each other find a new normal with our little family member creating a huge hole in her absence.
Love you Miss Chris, miss you terribly.
